Writer and Director John Lee Hancock had a daunting task bring the tale of the relationship between author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers and Walt Disney to life in his latest film, Saving Mr Banks. 
Rising to the challenge and with a great cast, including Tom Hanks as the Master of the Mouse, and Emma Thompson as the prickly, plum-tongued Travers, the story spans several decades, from the authors formative years in the Australian Outback, to her awkward-collaboration with Disney to bring her story to the big screen.
We sat down with Hancock to talk about filming in Disney World, art directing jelly beans and archive recordings.
Film3Sixty: Did Disney have any say so as to how Walt Disney would be portrayed?
John Lee Hancock: To completely honest with you, because it is two weeks in 1961 and not a straight biopic of Disney it made it easier. Although, that said it is the first time that he has been portrayed in a film. When I read the script, I thought that it was a fair portrayal of Disney, it showed his human side with flaws, yes he liked cigarettes (he died of lung cancer), he cursed at times, but I thought that it didn’t go too far one way or the other. I was fearful. My first thought was that had the project been developed inside the walls of Disney, none of those flaws would have been included, and it would have been more Walt Disney the brand. Because it was developed by Hopscotch and BBC Films outside of the wall and then tossed over.
F3S: What was your reaction when you were brought onto the project?
JLH: When I was brought in to interview, I was fearful. My first question was whether they were going to change the script because I didn’t want them to as I loved it. They were ok with it and thought that Walt came off well. Now, this was from more junior staff, so we were waiting anxiously as to whether the wizard from behind the curtain would appear and say, “cut this, slash that.” Fortunately that never happened.
F3S: How was the casting process?
JLH: It was really pretty easy. Usually it is difficult because of schedules and such like, but right away Emma (Thompson) was my first choice and she was on board. I don’t know what we would have done had Tom (Hanks) had said no. Emma made Tom excited, and we didn’t have to talk very long, we both wanted to protect the script. Then, whenever we thought of someone, say Ralph the driver, I wanted Paul Giamatti, but I thought he wouldn’t go for it. We tried, and Paul was onboard instantly. It was the same with Colin and Ruth. People were working for a lot less than they usually get for a studio movie, but they were all so passionate about the project that they didn’t care.
F3S: You also represent the Sherman Brothers, casting Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak. Did you work from the archive recordings for those scenes?
JLH: We had those recordings by we also had Richard Sherman with us every day. We gave Richard licence to whatever, he would move objects around saying “no, that would have been over there.” It was the same with Tom Hanks, so Richard would give Tom advice. Once example was when Walt really liked something he would say, “That’ll work,”, so we used that. Jason also learned how to play the piano like Richard. B.J. had to play Robert, who had seen more of life during the War, so he was much more serious and a darker presence.
F3S: You actually shot the film in Disney World, how was that?
JLH: We were the third film to shoot there ever. The last shot taken in Disney World was Tom Hanks in Do That Thing You Do. They were really helpful, but they won’t shut down the park for anyone. That said, they work with you closing of sections of the park. It was like military precision; you had to be on Main Street at that minute and out by this minute, with no leeway. We had to over prepare for two reasons; firstly, the tight schedule; and the other was that we were shooting like it was 1961, so we had to be aware of any changes.
F3S: After the credit roll, there is a special treat for the audience where there is P.L. Traver herself talking from a recording she did when at Burbank. Did Disney give you a lot of access to archive materials?
JLH: They were really good. In terms of that scene, tell everyone because I want people to stay through the credits. There is a funny thing; we were asked why we didn’t cast an Australian to play Travers? The truth is she moved to London when she was 21 or so and lived in the UK until she was 96. She rejected her past completely and became a British woman. I wanted people to know how good Emma (Thompson) was in this role. So, it came to the very last shot, on the very last day, and we had finished early. Everyone went down to toast with Champagne the completion, by John Schwartzman stayed up there and put the tape recorder down, art directed some jelly beans and rolled for 5 minutes. That shot isn’t just the last shot of the film, it is also the last take we ever took on this project, which added something to it I think.
Saving Mr. Banks is in cinemas nationwide this Friday, November 29, 2013.
